This isn’t new, but it’s new to me. Was just watching New Zealand trounce Australia in the Rugby World Cup 2015 — Go All Blacks! — when this 2013 ad came up. Being a lover of Irish music, as I am, it caught my ear, and then it caught my eye, and then it caught my heart. It encompasses brotherhood, love, the self-sacrifice and joy of marriage, a divine benediction, and a reminder that if Ireland loses her love for... Read more
Batten down the hatches, St. Louis, cablenet Destination America is playing with fire, offering a live broadcast of an illicit exorcism rite from the site of the events that inspired “The Exorcist.” Both Catholic writer William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel and the 1973 movie based on it are fictionalized accounts of an exorcism that took place in 1949. As related in a 1998 article in the Arlington (Virginia) Catholic Herald: The true story began in January 1949 and involved a 13-year-old... Read more
I’ve owned a dachshund, and one thing they like — along with food, digging and warm place to sleep — is attention, and Louie is no exception. As the video above notes, Louie came into Minneapolis resident Megan Determan’s life before her fiance, Chris Kluthe. So, when Louie decided to assert himself during the photo shoot, Karin Berdal, of DnK Photography, just went with it. Berdal said to ValleyNewsLive: “I thought it was hysterical off the bat but I had... Read more
The other day, I was listening to a radio talk-show host discussing Rep. Paul Ryan’s bid to be Speaker of the House. A caller complained that Ryan wasn’t a “true conservative,” and that he hadn’t upheld conservative principles in all his votes. The host asked whom the caller would like to have as Speaker instead. The caller named two or three other GOP House members, only to be told by the host that these people either hadn’t thrown their hats... Read more
There’s mercy, and then there’s a Mulligan. One is always available, but the other … not so much. It’s a hard fact that there are mistakes you can’t come back from, that will haunt, scar and dog you for the rest of your life. You may seek forgiveness and even receive it, but there will still be a temporal price to pay, whether it’s physical, psychological or legal. The Case of Ray Rice In Feb. 2014, NFL player Ray Rice... Read more
Director Brian DePalma’s 1987 version of “The Untouchables” is one of my all-time favorite movies, and it features Sean Connery playing one of my all-time favorite Catholic characters, Irish-American Chicago cop Jimmy Malone. Here’s a scene between Malone and Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner), in which Ness sees Malone fiddling with a medallion attached to a keyring. Also there is cop recruit George Stone, a k a Giuseppe Petri, played by Andy Garcia. Ness: What is that? Malone: [surprised] “What is that?” Ness:... Read more
Today in the inbox, hot off the press from PBS: MEDIA ADVISORY MASTERPIECE and PBS Announce New Sherlock Special to Premiere on January 1 Event Marks the First Time for a Sherlock US-UK Same Day Premiere October 24, 2015 – MASTERPIECE and PBS today announced that Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, a 90-minute special, will premiere Friday, January 1, 2016 on MASTERPIECE Mystery! on PBS at 9:00 p.m. ET, and simultaneously online at pbs.org/masterpiece. The special will have an encore broadcast on Sunday, January 10 at 10:00... Read more
Football has a deep Catholic history, beginning with schools like Notre Dame and Boston College; continuing through legendary coaches like daily Mass-goer Vince Lombardi and Don Shula; to players like quarterbacks Roger Staubach (of “Hail Mary play” fame), A.J. McCarron and Philip Rivers, linemen Matt Birk and Luke Kuechly; wide receiver Luke Willson, and kicker Justin Tucker. But as a game beloved in the American South, it’s got equally deep roots in non-Catholic Christianity, exemplified in current days by outstanding, faith-filled players... Read more
One great thing about being Catholic is we have loads of stuff written by really brilliant and faith-filled people on the subjects of God, truth and love. The downside is that millions of people won’t pay any attention to it, no matter how good it is, because it comes from a Catholic source. But it is a quirk of human nature that sometimes people will hear the message, if it comes from a different messenger. Of course, if a source... Read more
It’s not every day you get to see a car that carried a pope — or at least the same kind of car. I spent the morning tooling around the Orange County International Auto Show in Anaheim, California, not far from Disneyland. Among the exhibitors was Italian automaker Fiat, currently a subsidiary of American car company Chrysler. When Pope Francis arrived in Washington, D.C., for his U.S. visit in September, he wasn’t picked up in a stretch limo or an... Read more
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